Here is a summary of my week.

I work strictly nights which should involve a night shift premium which it doesn’t.
For over two years I have been hauling wood chips from Alberta to Bc.
10 to 11 hour days .
That’s 50 to 55 hours a week. For most people that’s 10 to 15 hours overtime but not the trucking industry. All regular pay.
The government needs to step in and force companies to compensate drivers fairly for their devotion.

Recently I was pulled from my regular route and given a different route that added 2 to 3 hours per day .
That’s 10 to 15 hours a week for an added $40 per day.
This truck is a day cab and I don’t have time to take my breaks as I have to rush back so that my cross shift can follow the same route. Every day falling behind by one hour, add the hour drive to and from work and that a crazy schedule to keep while barely getting 5 hours sleep per day.
By the time Friday rolls around I get off at 6am for my one day weekend.

Drivers are used and abused , underpaid and witness much disrespect.

I have not heard one good explanation as to why the trucking industry is allowed to inflict this much stress on drivers and get away with it.

The practice of paying by the load and pushing drivers to the limit has to stop.
All company drivers should be paid by the hour with overtime after 8 hours like the rest of the country.
Pay by the load should only be for owner operators as they get a percentage of the load which company drivers don’t, we get a flat rate from the load and that is unfair and unsafe practice.

We should also have the right to refuse work after 48 hours a week without repercussions and we don’t.

Drivers are pushed to the limit and beyond and that is one reason why I see so many crashes with lives ruined and ended.